Harbaugh confident in Taylor if Flacco goes down

Pictures of the Ravens game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17.

Matt Vensel

Several NFL teams have their lost starting quarterbacks to injury this season -- including playoff hopefuls in Chicago (Jay Cutler) and Houston (Matt Schaub) who have cast their lots to unproven backups. Winless Indianapolis hasn't had theirs (Peyton Manning) at all in 2011.

Durabilility has been one of the biggest reasons why Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has piled up a 41 wins in his four seasons in the league. Flacco -- knock on wood -- has never missed a start.

On Monday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked hypothetically about injured quarterbacks, and whether he feels that Tyrod Taylor is prepared should Flacco go down, too.

“We would like to think the guy we have is capable of winning games for us, no doubt about it,” Harbaugh said of Taylor, a sixth-round pick in April’s NFL draft. “We’re very confident in Tyrod.”

Harbaugh said that Taylor’s style of play would differ from Flacco’s. The rookie showed off his impressive wheels in the preseason and saw his first official snap in Sunday’s win in Cleveland.

With Flacco lined up as a wide receiver, Taylor took a shotgun snap and ran two yards off right tackle. Harbaugh indicated that we might see more of that: “I think that’s something we’d like to do.”

Taylor said Sunday that he is ready to do whatever the coaching staff asks of him, whether that is throwing passes or running plays out of the “Suggs package” a la Troy Smith three years ago.